Blair Exit Revives Concerns About DNI

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Politico:

Blair exit revives concerns about DNI

By JOSH GERSTEIN

The resignation of Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair is sure to reignite debate about whether he was an ineffective leader for the intelligence community or whether his authority to reshape the sprawling anti-terrorism apparatus was undercut by the White House, which never gave his office the powers some say are necessary to fill its intended role.

Despite a series of withering reports and reviews in recent months finding fault with the intelligence bureaucracy’s response to the terrorism threat, Blair insisted Thursday that the system had made positive strides during his tenure.

“Your work over the past 16 months has made the Intelligence Community more integrated, agile, and representative of American values,” he wrote. “Keep it up – I will be cheering for you.”

Blair gave no hint of any frustrations in the job, but fueled speculation on that front by issuing a terse written statement that omitted the customary claim that he was leaving for personal reasons, or any other explanation for his departure. One Blair ally suggested he had been hamstrung by White House decisions that limited his control over the CIA and by the longstanding refusal to give the DNI control over the intelligence community’s purse strings.

“Most people believe that that position has got to be the leader of the intelligence community, not just the guy who calls meetings,” said 9/11 Commission co-chair and former New Jersey Gov. Tom Kean. “That’s going to take leadership from the president to make sure that happens, otherwise we’re going to backslide.” The Commission called for the creation of the office, and Kean and fellow co-chair and former Rep. Lee Hamilton have pushed for the director to have the power to compel other agencies to share intelligence. http://homeland.house.gov/SiteDocuments/20100519102120-36576.pdf

In a statement issued Thursday evening, Obama praised Blair’s “record of service to the United States,” and said that “during his time as DNI, our intelligence community has performed admirably and effectively at a time of great challenges to our security, and I have valued his sense of purpose and patriotism.” He did not directly address Blair’s decision to leave, or offer a reason for it.

Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence James Clapper, a retired Air Force lieutenant general is considered a frontrunner to replace Blair, according to the New York Times. Other possible candidates to replace Blair could include Chuck Hagel, the Republican former Senator from Nebraska who was rumored to be a candidate for Secretary of Defense after Obama won the 2008 election, and John Hamre, who served as Deputy Secretary of Defense under President Clinton. Deputy Secretary of State Jim Steinberg had been considered for the DNI job but is no longer in the running, according to ABC.